9TH MISSION SUPPORT COMMAND RECEIVES AWARD FOR LIGHTING EFFICIENCY

The accolades for the U.S. Army Reserve’s 9th Mission Support Command (MSC) are growing by “LEEPS” and bounds.

On October 5, the 9th MSC received the 2016 Lighting Energy Efficiency in Parking (LEEP) campaign award for “Highest Percentage Energy Savings in a Retrofit of a Parking Lot.”

The award honored a lighting improvement initiative at Maui Army Reserve Center (ARC) in Maui, Hawaii, where 22 200-watt light emitting diode flood lights replaced 22 400-watt high pressure sodium flood lights. The project will save an estimated 17 million British Thermal Units of energy annually and will eventually propel the Maui ARC toward Net Zero Energy, when it produces as much energy as it consumes in one year.

The LEEP campaign is a collaborative effort between the Building Owners and Managers Association International, the United States Green Building Council, the International Facility Management Association and the International Parking Institute in conjunction with the Department of Energy Better Buildings Alliance. The campaign aims to improve the energy efficiency of parking lots and structures, and it provides resources to both public and private sector agencies that strive to achieve that goal. Since LEEP’s launch in 2012, participating sites have saved $14.4 million and 138 million kilowatt hours of power – the energy consumption of about 12,000 homes in America.

The LEEP awards program recognizes campaign members for exemplary achievements in parking lighting efficiency. Recipients collected this year’s awards at Greenbuild, the world’s largest conference and exposition dedicated to green buildings, in Los Angeles, California. Numerous and varied companies competed in 21 categories. Other winners included Arby’s Restaurant Group, the University of Minnesota and MGM Resorts International.

The LEEP award is one of several awards garnered by the Army Reserve for lighting. The 9th MSC recently received a Department of Energy Interior Lighting Campaign award for their efforts to improve energy efficiency by 62 percent at an ARC in Guam. The Army Reserve has received LEEP honors in the past, as well. The 63rd Regional Support Command won a LEEP award in 2014 for a project at Camp Pike, Arkansas. Improvements to parking lot lighting reduced energy consumption by 85 percent at that site.